The capacete is a type of Castilian helmet, open, with a narrow rim finished in a point. Although in my younger years I studied Medieval History, I confess that I was unaware of its existence until I recently came across one, perfectly preserved and shining, almost at the entrance to the Gallery of Royal Collections in Madrid. And they told me that Fernando the Catholic used it.
Inaugurated last July, the Gallery occupies a magnificent building in Tuñón/Mansilla attached to the Royal Palace, from whose upper floor you can see the Campo del Moro, the Casa de Campo and the Guadarrama mountain range.
It houses a wide selection of the tens of thousands of pieces of fine and decorative arts collected by the kings of Spain, or of the Spains (Trastamaras, Austrias and Bourbons) from the 15th century to the beginning of the 20th, and which are part of Heritage National, that is, they are publicly owned.
The Gallery is the most outstanding state museum project opened in the 21st century and is somewhat reminiscent, due to the variety of its contents, of Victoria
Given the quantity and variety of proposals, it is advisable to sign up, as we did, for the tour commented by guides from the institution.
The helmet of Isabel of Castile’s husband sports a gilded brass garnish, with the inscription “PRAECINGTE VOS ARMATVRAM FIDEI” (Put on the armor of faith), a spiritual message that balanced the obviously warlike message of the helmet.
Not much later, following the route, we found the armor of Emperor Charles V in the Battle of Mühlberg, also burnished and wonderful, with etched golden bands.
The horror of war has left for posterity pieces of craftsmanship that capture attention and lead us to meditate on the humanity of the person who dressed them.
The tour through the Gallery offers tapestries – among others, one based on a creation by Hieronymus Bosch –, books, sculptures, chalices, reliquaries, chests, consoles, chests of drawers, paintings by Dürer, Patinir, El Greco, Velázquez or Goya, the testament from Philip II, floats (there is a black one, made of stained walnut wood, from Mariana of Austria); sedan chairs (poor ones who carry them)…
Porcelain tableware from Saxony and the royal porcelain factories, Chinese screens, musical instruments, richly decorated tables and armchairs, the canopy and hand-kissing armchair of Maria Luisa of Parma…
Altogether, a journey through the history of Spain through the world of the object and the customs of the elites. A journey that becomes overwhelming, due to the great weight of that history, and an itinerary to repeat in a second attendance, to be able to process the immensity of information available.
Whoever, without leaving Madrid, wants to compensate this visit with another, also in the field of applied arts, which to a very different extent is committed to modernity and lightness, will find the Miguel Milá exhibition at the Fernán Gómez Center until March 17 . (Pre-)industrial designer, the most complete dedicated so far to the Barcelona designer, with more than 200 pieces, plans and drawings.
Those of us who read his book The Essential or watched the documentary that Poldo Pomés dedicated to him already know that Milá started out as a “handyman” always willing to look for the most practical, economical and aesthetic solution to real problems, and his career confirms this. philosophy.
The exhibition curated by Claudia Oliva and Gonzalo Milá is an apotheosis of practicality, lightness and beauty, with examples that are still as current as the TMM lamp sold by Santa
Those by Miguel Milá would be excellent proposals for real collections of our time, if they were updated.
